DUBAI (Dispatches) -- Leaked documents reveal that the United Arab Emirates paid a Geneva-based private intelligence firm €55,000 to compile a database of more than 11,300 Facebook users residing in the country, using their social media activity—including likes on pages critical of the government—to identify individuals classified as “hostile,” according to a report published by investigative outlet Drop Site News and reviewed by Reuters.
The project, codenamed “Arnica 2,” was carried out by Alp Services and delivered to an Emirati client in January 2018, the leaked archive shows. The spreadsheets contain names, residential addresses, employment details, and alleged political affiliations of Facebook users living in the UAE. 
The criteria for inclusion included liking Facebook pages operated by news outlets and political groups deemed hostile to the Emirates, including Arabic-language media such as Arabi21, Rassd, and al-Araby al-Jadeed.
The operation began in 2017 amid heightened tensions between the UAE and Qatar, during a period when Emirati authorities warned that expressions of sympathy for Doha could result in prison sentences of up to 15 years. 
In planning documents, Alp Services offered to use “proprietary tools and advanced mapping software” to identify alleged supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group Emirati authorities regard as a security threat. 
The firm claimed to have identified approximately 1,000 Brotherhood “supporters” within the UAE, including teachers, students, and individuals declaring employment with Dubai or Abu Dhabi police—though the documents provided no evidence substantiating affiliation beyond Facebook likes.
Among those included in the database were thousands of ordinary residents—engineers, pharmacists, restaurant workers—whose only recorded connection to the investigation was membership in certain Facebook groups or liking specific pages. 
The archive was obtained by French outlet Mediapart and shared with the European Investigative Collaborations consortium.
The revelations come as the UAE continues aggressive monitoring of social media, with hundreds detained this year over online posts related to the war on Iran. 
Human Rights Watch has documented the Emirates’ use of broad counterterrorism and cybercrime laws to prosecute peaceful criticism, including a mass trial in which 53 defendants had their convictions upheld in 2025, with 43 receiving life sentences.
In January 2025, authorities designated 11 dissidents and eight UK-based companies as “terrorists” without due process, a move rights groups described as part of a transnational repression campaign.